To Protect Her
by Kang Xiu
Summary: In OVA 1, when Yui has the window explode on her, we never see what happens to her, she just comes back later in bandages. Here is what could have happened... Suboshi/Yui


Yui and Suboshi from OVA 1, neither of whom I own  
  
~~~  
  
To Protect Her  
  
~~~  
  
My god. My god, I hurt. A thousand splinters of glass in my back. I can't move, I'm just lying here slowly bleeding to death. I'm all alone. Tetsuya, I need you. I need you here. I need you to help me...  
  
I feel something warm on my cheek. A hand's touch.  
  
"Tetsuya?"  
  
"No, no, Yui-sama. It's me," a familiar voice says.  
  
"No! It's not! I'm dreaming! You died!"   
  
"Of course. But I can't stop protecting you, now can I? I promised I would."  
  
He cradles my head in his lap. I feel warm, and safe, despite my pain. And then I realize something, terrible to me.  
  
"No!! You're not my Suboshi!! You can't be!! He'd be a spirit!! You are not my Suboshi!!"  
  
"I am! I know I am! Please, Yui-sama, I want to help you! Calm down!"  
  
I try to open my eyes. I finally force them open. His face. He's smiling at me. He's trying to reassure me. He is...my Suboshi.   
  
"Suboshi... Help me, Suboshi..."  
  
"That's what I'm here for. It's all right. Everything's all right. I'm going to take care of you."  
  
"Suboshi, Ren - Renhou, he hurt me...he made the window break...and then he - he just walked past me...he knew...and he didn't care..." I start to cry "And it hurts so bad...Suboshi...it hurts..."  
  
He hugs me, carefully, trying to not open the wounds or push the glass in further. He kisses me gently.   
  
"Yui-sama, don't worry. I promise he'll pay. But right now, please don't think about it. Just lie still. I'm going to stay with you till someone comes. I'll make sure no one hurts you anymore. No one will hurt you ever while I'm here."  
  
"It's...really bad...I need a...doctor..."  
  
He curses. "Damn! If only I had aniki's ability to heal with my ki!!"  
  
"It'll be...all right...ne? Like you said..."  
  
"Of course it will. Course it will."  
  
~~~  
  
Will I not be able to save her? The one time she really needs it? That Tetsuya guy... He said he'd protect her! I trusted him! What's he doing now? He knows his way around this world! He could help her. He could get her one of these doctors here!  
  
I try to ease her to a better position. I promised Taiitsukun I would do my best to protect Yui if she gave me back my life and gave me another chance. I've got to.  
  
"Yui-sama, if I get you a doctor, I have to leave you..."  
  
"Leave...me...?"  
  
"Is it all right? I can't do anything. I'll only be able to sit here with you till you die. I've got to get someone to help you. Can I leave you?"  
  
"Suboshi..." She raises one of her blood-covered arms to try and touch my face. My hair falls in front of my eyes, half masking my tears.  
  
"Yui-sama, please! I need to get someone to help you!! Let me go..." I'm sobbing now. And I thought I was so composed. "Let me help you..."  
  
"I'm...scared. I don't want...to be...alone."  
  
"You won't be alone. I'll ask aniki's ghost to watch you while I go!" I choke on the words  
  
"No...don't...disturb him. You...can go... Only...promise you'll come back...okay?"  
  
"I promise. Yui-sama, I swear it! I'll come back!"   
  
I press the cord of ryuuseisui into her hands. It's the only thing I have. She closes his hands into fists. I don't think she'll ever let go. I get up, making sure I don't jolt her. When I am on my feet, I bend down once more to kiss her, then run. I don't know where anything is here. I must find Tetsuya.  
  
The first person I meet is just an elderly man cleaning the building we're in.  
  
"Please sir, tell me if there's a doctor nearby!!"  
  
"What's wrong, kid?"  
  
"Yui-sama needs a doctor!"  
  
"Hongo Yui?"  
  
"Yes!! Please, she needs help!" I know I make an odd sight, a teenage boy in Chinese clothing, begging him to help me find a doctor for "Lady Yui".  
  
"What's wrong with her?"  
  
"A window broke all over her!"  
  
"Oh, I get it. There's a phone there. Call 911."  
  
"What?" It must be one of Yui-sama's world's inventions. I couldn't use it if my life depended on it. But Yui-sama's does. "I promised her I'd go back to her once I got help! Please, just get the doctor!!"  
  
"What going on here?" A voice from behind us. I know this voice.   
  
"You're Tetsuya! Good! You said you'd protect Yui-sama! Please, do it! Call a doctor!"  
  
"Suboshi?"  
  
"Why does no one listen to me? She's going to die!"  
  
That does it. Tetsuya grabs up the odd-looking thing and presses buttons that make shrill noises.   
  
"Operator? We need an ambulance! Yotsubadai high school!! Right away!"  
  
"Is he doing it? Will he help her?" I ask agitatedly.   
  
"Gee, kid, you're out of it. He's calling the hospital."  
  
"All right. All right! I need to go back to her! I promised!!"  
  
I run as fast as I am able. I must return to her. I must fulfill my promise. Soon I see her again, at the top of those stairs, the blood staining her beautiful pale hair. I am at her side now, whispering reassurance, cradling her head once more.  
  
"You'll be all right! I got someone! They're coming to save you! You'll be all right, my Yui-sama. No one will hurt you."  
  
"Suboshi..." she grabs hold of my jacket, pulling me down to her.   
  
"Yui-sama!"   
  
~~~  
  
He's here again. I reach out to him. Taking hold of his orange smock, I pull him down. I want him to be close to me, to protect me. I'm so scared. I won't let go of his ryuuseisui. If this is a dream, or if he leaves, I won't ever let go of them. I won't let anyone take them away, like he's always being taken away.  
  
"Suboshi...Don't let...Renhou...get me..." My world is clouding over   
  
"Of course not, Yui-sama, I won't let anyone hurt you. I'll never let anyone hurt you. Shh, just try to sleep, Yui-sama. I'll watch over you. Just sleep now."  
  
"Sleep..." His gentle face slides out of my vision and I am in blackness.  
  
~~~  
  
She's unconscious. Soon Tetsuya will bring someone to help her. And I will stay with her till then. I won't leave her. Once she's safe, I'll have to go back. But I'm taking care of her till then.   
  
"Over here, they're over here. I saw him go here."  
  
Tetsuya runs up the stairs to us.   
  
"Suboshi!!"  
  
"Tetsuya, did you bring them?"  
  
"Yes, yes, Suboshi, they'll help Yui-chan."  
  
I feel a pang of envy. I call her Yui-sama because I love her and respect her. But Tetsuya promised to protect her and he calls her Yui-chan. Because she loves him and he loves her, and I'll never be allowed in as part. I'll never be part of happiness like that.   
  
"Thank you, Tetsuya. Thank you so much. I couldn't do anything for her."  
  
"It's okay, Suboshi. Don't worry."  
  
I can't think straight anymore. All I can think of is how Tetsuya has saved Yui-sama who I love. He'll save her.  
  
"Thank you, Tetsuya! She needs you. She needs you to save her. You need to be with her. She loves you, Tetsuya!"  
  
"All right, calm down, Suboshi."  
  
Tetsuya takes Yui from me, and the other men and women put her on a stretcher. They take her away from Tetsuya and me. I must let them do this, for they are going to help her.   
  
Finally I can't stand it. I let go. I saved Yui-sama, didn't I? I let myself fall into unconsciousness.  
  
~~~  
  
Tetsuya called back to the medics.   
  
"Hey, the kid blacked out too!!"   
  
He sighed, then picked Suboshi up and carried him after. Climbing into the ambulance, he stood with Suboshi in his arms next to Yui's temporary bed.   
  
"Gotta bring him along. Huh. So, Suboshi, you think Yui-chan loves me? Well, I'd have to tell you I call her Yui-chan because we're friends. Sure I love her, but it's not reciprocated, you know."  
  
What's gonna happen to the kid? Once Yui's okay, will he be needed? Or will he just disappear, like last time? Yui still hasn't let go of that accursed ryuuseisui. Of all things to remember Suboshi by, it would be his weapon of mass murder. Wish you carried something gentler, Suboshi. Why not try a flute?  
  
~~~  
  
I feel myself coming back to the world of light. I'm lying on a soft hospital bed, with bandages all over my body. I still have ryuuseisui in my hands. I never let go all that time?  
  
"Suboshi...where's Suboshi?" I try to push myself to a sitting position. It's no good. Then a hand supports me and I see who it is. "Suboshi!"  
  
Renhou doesn't matter now, nothing does. Only that I may talk to him  
  
"Yui-sama!! I stayed. I had to see you get well before I left."  
  
"So...you're going?"  
  
"I can't stay. I only got one chance from Taiitsukun."  
  
"You mean that Sunkake Baba won't let you stay?"  
  
"No, no. She can't let me have my body back for too long. I only got to come so I could help you, because you were all alone."  
  
"But I thought you could..."  
  
"No. I'm sorry, Yui-sama." He looks sorry. I think he's blinking back tears. "But I'm glad I got to see you! I missed you. Being dead isn't much fun." He laughs.  
  
"If you hadn't come...I would be dead. With you."  
  
"Yui-sama, don't you DARE!!!! I'll make your death miserable!!!"  
  
"You wouldn't be able to bring yourself to it." As he starts to speak, I hold up a hand. "But I won't. I promise. I'm going to really miss you when you're gone."  
  
"You'll have Tetsuya. He loves you, and he told me he'd protect you. I really trust him. You do that too, okay? Make sure you have someone to love, Yui-sama. Your life will be a lot emptier without."  
  
"But I do have someone."  
  
"Ghosts don't count!" He laughs again, and waves me away. "Aishite'ru, Yui-sama, I'll see you again. Oh, and if you ever really, really need me again, Sunkake Baba agreed to let me come to you. Sayonara, Yui-sama!" He is still waving, but this time it's goodbye, as he fades into the curtains of the room.   
  
Tetsuya rushes in just then. He looks around the empty room and sighs.  
  
"I missed him, huh? I wanted to say goodbye. He was good. He certainly helped you more than I could have."  
  
"But, Tetsuya-chan, he wants us together. I think you helped just as much as him. You called the ambulance, he could never have done that."  
  
"But he kept your hope alive, and that means he kept you alive."  
  
"For you. You know, I didn't think it was possible to be in love with two people, but I am. I love you and Suboshi."  
  
"Then together we'll do our best to make sure you're happy."  
  
He smiles at me, and we both turn our heads to the window, where outside, I can just see a boy in an orange smock laughing and stroking a stray pigeon that has alighted on the windowsill.  
  
I move the hand holding the ryuuseisui to my heart, and then say quietly, "Thank you both. So very much."  
  
~~~  
  
Owari 


End file.
